Monday, July 14, 2008

High gas prices threatens health care for seniors

It’s simply amazing how high gas prices negatively impact sectors of our economy that one would have never imagined possible. In this case, health care workers are having difficulty dealing with the higher cost of fuel prompting some to leave for other positions. (Read story)

Christine Mair, a companion to elderly people and graduate student, drives hundreds of miles every week taking clients to lunch, to doctor visits and shopping.

Mair's agency, the nonprofit A Helping Hand, provides companion services to 400 people each year in Orange, Durham, Chatham and Wake counties. It reimburses workers for driving clients on errands but not for travel to clients' homes. Mair drives a fuel-efficient car with manual transmission, but she still pays up to $50 a week for gas to travel between her Raleigh home and clients in Pittsboro and Chapel Hill.

"It gets pricey," she said.

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